With the Hippocampus, their loaned shuttle now parked next to the Acreon, Bratrizik uses his walk the void mystic ability to travel from their shuttle to the Acreon, while Nict and Yiris follow in their space suits. They aim for the aft airlock, which their sensors identified as being open.
As Bratrizik enters the aft airlock, he is immediately attacked by two hungry akatas that sensed his approach. Yiris enters the Acreon right behind the vesk and launches her own deadly attack. Nict and his drone enter and fire their laser pistols on one of the monsters, and though the drone is successful the attack does little damage as most of the fire seems to disperse on the monster's skin.
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| An Akata |
Nict sits at one of the computer terminals and breaks through the various security measures protecting the ship's computer core. The shirren takes control the ship, and restores its basic functions. Digging around further, Nict locates security logs. These logs describe how the crew of the Acreon discovered the Drift Rock, and the measures they took to anchor it so they could tow it back to Absalom Station. During the crew's initial exploration of the rock's surface, they discovered strange geodes partly made of noqual, and they transported these aboard the Acreon.
Logs from two days later report that the geodes hatched and monsters began to attack the crew. The monsters' description leaves no doubt in Nict's mind that they were akatas. More frighteningly, less than 18 hours later the captain creates a frantic log entry, with the sounds of combat audible in the background. He reports that something else is on board the Acreon, and it came from the rock. The logs then report the captain and his surviving crew purged the ship by exposing it to the void of space. The last entry, recorded a mere fifteen minutes later from the engine room, shows the captain in a space suit announcing that purging the air failed to cripple the new assailant, and the crew was withdrawing to the drift rock after setting the Acreon on autopilot back to Absalom Station. There are no further security logs, nor any other crew interactions with the computer.
Quietly, the party continues their exploration of the Acreon. Venturing in the central hall, they see a small body. Getting closer, they realize it is a dead space goblin, who has been badly mauled. Bratrizik, Yiris and Nict discuss what to do with the dead goblin, and they decide to drag it back to the engine room and dump it next to the bodies of the akatas. Nict grabs the dead goblin by the ankles and begins to drag it, when another akata runs at the shirren. In the ensuing scuffle, the party is better able to deal with the monster and quickly neutralize the threat. After the fight, the shirren notices that his suit has been ripped and that his flesh has been pierced. Nict has become infected with the void death.
They finish dragging the dead goblin and the akata back to the engine room and dump both corpses next to the cocoons. Concerned about the other creature on board, Bratrizik checks the engine compartment to make sure there is nothing in there. He enters it with difficulty, but does not find anything out of the ordinary in there.
Continuing their exploration of the Acreon, they enter one of the ship's two cargo bay. Yiris enters first, as her presence should not be detected by the akatas. Searching the room, she finds three more cocoons. Her movements attract the attention of two akatas, who pounce. During this combat Bratrizik is also infected by the void death. Searching the cargo room, Bratrizik finds a flame pistol with 8 units of petrol left.
Hurt, they decide to withdraw to the relative safety of the engine room and spend some time resting.
After the Gap - February 25, 317 @ 17:49
Walking out of the cargo hold, Nict suffers the effects of the void death as he suddenly feels weaker and less coordinated. Entering the next cargo hold, they find it empty of monsters, but they do discover several items of interest, including a disruptive weapon seal, two serum of healing, and a medpatch. They also find a cube two meters wide container marked with Eoxian symbols. Here's the container Ambassador Nor told them about. They decide not to open it for the time being.
Pursuing the exploration of the ship, they find the crew's berths. All of them have been ransacked. Arriving at the last berth, they find it barricaded. Inside the room are two goblins, who fire wildly as Bratrizik opens the door. Yiris' accurate shot kills one, and the second one surrenders. Upon interrogation, he reveals that his name is Prat and his friends came on board to "rescue" some of the abandoned gear but then were attacked by the akatas, so they took refuge here. They did not encounter anything deadlier than the
akatas. The party reluctantly agrees to let the goblin follow them. Arriving on the Acreon's bridge, they tell Prat to enter and see if there are any monsters. The goblin's screams of terror do not last very long. Bratrizik and Nict each throw a shock grenade, and when they enter they find three more stunned akatas on the floor. They quickly kill them all.
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| The Acreon |
With the ship cleared of enemies, Yiris begins collecting the cocoons so she can transport them to the Hippocampus. She notices that the shuttle has disappeared. Informed of this development, Nict uses the Acreon's sensors and spots the shuttle returning to Absalom Station. A quick conversation with the station reveals that the security personnel is concerned that whatever threat is on board the Acreon could come aboard the station, and recalled their shuttle. They will send it back if the investigative crew neutralize any threat left either on the ship or on the rock.
They contact Ambassador Nor to report their recent discoveries, including the diplomatic container in the second cargo hold. Nor thanks them for their help, and asks them to pursue their exploration so he can make a full report as the mediator in the case opposing Astral Extractions and the Hardscrabble Collective.
Wondering how they will travel to the rock, Yiris decides that the best way is to use the towing cable as a guide wire. Bratrizik suffers the onset of the void death. Given the events of the day, they need to rest first. They withdraw once again to the engine room, where they make themselves comfortable.
After the Gap - February 26, 317 @ 09:07
In the morning, Nict uses his medical skills to attempt to cure the void death, and he successfully pass his first check. Yiris programs the computer to reel the drift rock so they can latch on and space walk over, then release the cable again to avoid the rock and the Acreon colliding.
They space walk over by using the towing cable. Nict notices that the surface of the asteroid has not been hit by space debris, while Yiris notices that a face of it is completely flat, indicating that it has been separated from a much bigger object. Bratrizik speculates that it is either an artificial construct, or it was sheltered in an atmosphere that protected its surface from damage.
Arriving at the cable's anchor point, they find a small entrance leading into a cave system. This cave system has clearly been dug by something. Inside the first large cave, the party is ambushed by an android named Clara-247. Combat is short, and they are quickly able to disable the operative. Clara-247 surrenders, and reports that she was hired by a corporation named DT43 to prevent them from reaching the Acreon, and, if that proved not possible, to kill them. She piloted the necroglider that attacked them on their way to the Acreon. Having failed twice, Clara-247 recognizes that her mission is now over.
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| Clara-247 |
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